Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) Stock Price Up 1.4% – Still a Buy?

Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)’s stock price rose 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $1,007.56 and last traded at $1,007.39. Approximately 458,535 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 1,916,825 shares. The stock had previously closed at $993.40.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on COST. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $876.00 to $995.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $1,075.00 to $1,175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday. Melius Research began coverage on shares of Costco Wholesale in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. They issued a “hold” rating and a $950.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 27th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on Costco Wholesale from $1,019.00 to $1,020.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $988.46.

Costco Wholesale Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $438.35 billion, a PE ratio of 59.93, a PEG ratio of 6.05 and a beta of 0.82. The company has a current ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $924.72 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $883.45.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, September 26th. The retailer reported $5.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.05 by $0.10. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.90% and a return on equity of 31.05%. The firm had revenue of $79.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $79.91 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.86 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 1.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 17.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Costco Wholesale Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Friday, November 1st were given a dividend of $1.16 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 1st. This represents a $4.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.47%. Costco Wholesale’s payout ratio is 28.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Costco Wholesale news, EVP Claudine Adamo sold 3,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $888.99, for a total transaction of $2,844,768.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,630 shares in the company, valued at $7,671,983.70. This trade represents a 27.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Pierre Riel sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $896.71, for a total value of $1,793,420.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,210 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,155,409.10. This trade represents a 16.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,016 shares of company stock valued at $9,826,115 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Costco Wholesale by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 9,487,057 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,380,648,000 after purchasing an additional 162,191 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Costco Wholesale by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,308,615 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $8,252,274,000 after purchasing an additional 324,973 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Costco Wholesale by 113,947.9% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 7,370,916 shares of the retailer’s stock valued at $6,534,464,000 after buying an additional 7,364,453 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 3,650,562 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,102,941,000 after acquiring an additional 88,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Costco Wholesale by 3.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,399,127 shares of the retailer’s stock worth $3,013,394,000 after purchasing an additional 125,444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 68.48% of the company’s stock.

Costco Wholesale Company Profile

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.